Dr. Mageret Bailey (left), Principal of the Year, chats with Victoria Melhado, Lasco Nurse of the Year at the 2012-2013 Teacher and Principal of the Year awards at the Wyndham Hotel in New Kingston yesterday.

And the Principal of the Year award goes to Dr Mageret Bailey!

Bailey, who is the head of the Rollington Town Primary School, says her greatest acheivement as principal, is seeing persons lives being transformed.

"I have been working in the inner city all my teaching life and I'm here to tell persons that something good can come from the inner city. I would not exchange that for anything and I will continue to work to bring out the best in those students," Bailey said.

Her daughter, Marissa Bailey, was ecstatic, saying that she has been a role model not only in school, but in the home.

"I'm really proud of mommy and I want her to know that I look up to her. It wasn't an easy path because sometimes she is really busy and we had a lot of turbulence along the way, but we did what we had to do and here we are today," she said.

Bailey, who has been principal of Rollington Town Primary since 1999, said she has spared the rod without spoiling her students.

"Positive discipline all the way; I don't use corporal punishment and it works. We have implemented the strategy that was given to us by the ministry in our school and we have not been having any problems thus far," she said.

Bailey is encouraging principals and teachers alike to do the best and to ensure that lessons are effectively delivered to students.

"Be willing to adapt to changes, use the strategies that are most suitable for the students you teach. There is no one strategy for everybody and that is the mistake that a lot of us make, children learn by different ways, so as a teacher you have to go out there and look for the strategy that best works with your students," the top principal said.